This charter has now been cancelled. This is due to low bookings.
As the locomotive would have been limited to one engine, the train could not exceed 7 coaches. Therefore the cost of the ticket had to reflect the short train due to 55022 being restricted to one engine.
With only 4 weeks to go before the train would have run, a large amount of bookings would have been needed to break even, let alone make any profits that would have allowed donations to 55022's engine repair fund.
Rail-Blue Charters and 55022's owner, Martin Walker, therefore took the decision to cancel the train.
Both parties are obviously disappointed with this outcome as 55022 has not operated in anger for the last 16 months. There have also been criticisms from some quarters regarding the route, load and short running time. However the reasons for this were made very clear and hence the operation needed to be delivered in the way it did.
Rail-Blue Charters do apologise for this and especially to those who did book and show their support. Please note that both Martin and ourselves did try and deliver something for those Deltic fans out there. However, there would be no justification in running a loss making train where the intention is to try and raise money for a justifiable cause.
If you have any issues or questions, please contact us. For information or to obtain your refund, please call +44 (0)161 850 0559 (landline charged at standard rate) or email. Office hours are 09.00 to 17.30.
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